US Import Tariffs in 2026: What Changed and What Importers Should Do Now

2026 has been the most turbulent year for US import tariffs in decades — and one of the most consequential for anyone bringing goods into the United States. A landmark Supreme Court decision wiped out an entire category of tariffs, billions of dollars in refunds are now flowing back to importers, and the rules for low-value shipments were rewritten twice. Here is where things stand as of early October 2026, and what it means for your supply chain.

Trade policy is moving fast — treat this as a snapshot, not legal advice. For guidance on your specific products, talk to our licensed customs brokers.

The Supreme Court Struck Down the IEEPA Tariffs

On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. That single decision invalidated the “reciprocal” tariffs and the fentanyl-related tariffs that had been layered onto imports from China and most other trading partners since early 2025.

The practical effect: those IEEPA-based duty layers are gone, and the government owes importers their money back.

Roughly $165 Billion in Refunds Are in Motion

Following the ruling, the Court of International Trade ordered US Customs and Border Protection on March 4, 2026 to liquidate pending entries without IEEPA tariffs and to reliquidate already-liquidated entries that are not yet final. The refund pool is estimated at roughly $165 billion, and CBP has been building a dedicated processing system (called CAPE) to handle it.

What importers should do right now:

• Inventory your entries. Pull every entry from 2025–2026 that paid IEEPA-based duties (reciprocal or fentanyl-related layers) and quantify what you are owed.
• Protect entries approaching finality. For entries that have liquidated, a protest must generally be filed before the 180-day post-liquidation deadline — once liquidation becomes final, the refund may be lost. Do not assume the refund arrives automatically.
• Watch your entry paperwork. Refunds flow through the importer of record. If a forwarder or broker filed on your behalf, coordinate with them on where the money goes.

If you are not sure which of your entries qualify, we can review your entry history with our licensed customs brokers and file the paperwork to protect your claims.

What Still Stands: Section 301, Section 232 — and New Layers

The Supreme Court ruling did not touch tariffs imposed under other statutes:

• Section 301 tariffs on Chinese goods remain fully in effect. Many lines are at 25%, and some strategic lines were raised to 50% or 100% after the 2024 review — rates vary by HS line and can be very high, so we verify them at quoting. Existing product exclusions were extended to late 2026; verify the current list before relying on one for your HS codes.
• Section 232 national-security tariffs also remain in place — and they reach well beyond steel and aluminum. They now cover autos and auto parts (25%, with EU and Japanese vehicles capped at 15% all-in), copper, and timber and wood products including upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities (covered below).
• The administration responded to the ruling with new measures — and one of them has already been struck down too. A temporary 10% global surcharge was imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act from 24 February 2026. On 7 May 2026 the Court of International Trade held that surcharge unlawful, finding the statutory precondition — a qualifying balance-of-payments deficit — was not met. The remedy was party-specific rather than universal, so refunds run only to the plaintiffs, and the government appealed. The surcharge itself expired on 24 July 2026 at the end of its 150-day statutory limit. If you paid it, this is a second refund track worth preserving your position on, separate from the IEEPA refunds.
• Since 24 July 2026 a new Section 301 layer applies to imports from about 60 economies, at rates that differ by country — the EU, Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia among them. Check the current surcharge for your origin at quoting rather than relying on a figure from earlier in the year.
• A Section 232 action on wood products is now one of the biggest tariff stories for anyone importing furniture. In force since 14 October 2025, it carries 10% on softwood timber and lumber and 25% on kitchen cabinets, vanities and upholstered furniture, with imports from the EU and Japan capped at 15% all-in and from the UK at 10%. Escalation to 50% on cabinets and 30% on upholstered furniture was postponed from 1 January 2026 to 1 January 2027. Unlike AD/CVD, it applies to every origin — so outside those capped origins it is not something sourcing moves can design around.

The takeaway: the stack changed shape, but tariff planning did not get optional. Your real duty rate is still the sum of the MFN base rate plus every surviving layer that applies to your specific HS code — which is why correct classification matters more than ever.

De Minimis Is Gone — For Good This Time

The $800 de minimis exemption that once let low-value shipments enter duty-free is effectively finished. The Supreme Court ruling did not restore it, and in June 2026 CBP issued rules placing the suspension on a new, more durable legal footing: an indefinite suspension for all shipments valued at $800 or less arriving by any mode other than international mail, with postal shipments following from late July 2026.

Every low-value shipment now requires a formal or informal customs entry. For e-commerce sellers and direct-to-consumer brands that built their model on de minimis parcels, consolidation into ocean or air freight with a single formal entry — then domestic fulfillment from a US warehouse — is now almost always the cheaper, faster path. Our partner warehousing near the ports of LA and Long Beach exists for exactly this shift.

Five Moves Smart Importers Are Making in 2026

1. File for your IEEPA refunds — and calendar the deadlines. This is real money; do not let entries become final unprotested.
2. Re-audit HS classifications. With the tariff stack changing twice this year, classifications that were “close enough” in 2024 may be costing you real percentage points now.
3. Use duty drawback. If you re-export goods, up to 99% of duties can be recovered — most importers still leave this on the table.
4. Restructure low-value flows. Bulk entries plus US fulfillment beat parcel-by-parcel imports in the post-de-minimis world.
5. Model scenarios, not certainties. The legal fights are not over. Stress-test your landed costs at today’s rates and at plausible higher ones, and diversify sourcing where the math is fragile — our China–USA and India–USA lanes both give you vetted origin-side options.

How AGF Helps

American Global Freights is an FMC-licensed NVOCC with licensed customs brokers in-house and our own office in Foshan, China. We coordinate classification reviews, entry filing, refund protests and customs bonds through our licensed customs brokers, and handle the freight itself — one accountable partner across the whole chain. If 2026’s tariff whiplash has you re-planning your imports, get in touch — the consultation costs nothing, and the savings are often substantial.